


pastry chef attempts to be honest with her feelings and also make a chiffon cake

by thewoundupbird



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, Kara sort of always ends up in her videos, Lena runs Gourmet Makes, bon appetit au, the test kitchen is small and they really like each other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-26
Updated: 2019-12-26
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:26:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21977311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thewoundupbird/pseuds/thewoundupbird
Summary: Bon Appetit AU where Lena has to film a Gourmet Makes episode with Kara after a drunken kiss at the holiday party last weekend.
Relationships: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor
Comments: 16
Kudos: 320





	pastry chef attempts to be honest with her feelings and also make a chiffon cake

“What do you mean you want to bring Kara on for the Gourmet Makes segment?” Lena stammered out.

Cat narrowed her eyes, hand slowly moving across the glass of her desk in suspicion.

“That stupid assistant didn’t clean the dust off this desk properly. I’ll have to give him a talking to after the January cover shoot.”

“Cat? I’m still here?”

“Yes, I’m aware, Lena. You like Kara. You work together. She’s a frequent guest on your little show. Why can’t she just guest star for one episode?”

Cat tossed a thick stack of printed pages across her desk and Lena caught them with a sigh. She crossed one leg over the other as she leaned back, leafing through the papers.

It was screenshots of comment after comment requesting a Kara and Lena collaboration.

“Read one,” Cat ordered as she leaned back in her desk chair, steepling her hands in front of her face like she was some sort of villain from a bad 80s movie. Lena cast a disdainful glance at her boss and wondered where her fluffy white cat was for maniacal stroking.

“’Around the World in 80 Bites and Gourmet Makes should totally collab,’” she drolly read. 

Cat flicked her wrist, prompting her to continue when the silence stretched on for too long. Lena sighed and adjusted her flour dusted apron, half-hoping the powder would leave a hard to clean stain from Cat’s plush office chair.

“’You should have Kara make something from Gourmet Makes and have Lena judging her.’ ‘Lena deserves a break. You should have sent her to Hawaii instead of Kara!’”

“You just made that up, Lena.”

“Fine. Fine! We can do a collaboration. It’s not a big deal.”

“I think the combination would be at least amusing. And maybe if you get enough views we can do a sequal segment.”

Lena groaned and stood. 

“Alright, Cat. Can I go? I need to check on the oven for a new recipe I’m doing.”

“With the chiffon cake? Excellent, I’m looking forward to trying it later. Have to put your French culinary training to good use.”

Lena stopped herself form rolling her eyes as she turned to leave, exiting the huge office with a huff.

* * *

“Shit,” Lena cursed as she pulled out the blackened cake. She’d accidentally pressed the wrong button on the elevator and had taken a time-consuming tour of the World Trade Center building from top to bottom.

“Oh jeez, that doesn’t look too good.” 

Lena practically jumped at the quiet observation, jerking to see Kara Danvers at her side. Her dark blonde hair was in a messy fish tail braid, draped over the shoulder of her usual red flannel. She had her hands in her leather apron, seeming uncharacteristically uncertain as she observed Lena’s over the top reaction. 

“Did you talk to Cat today? She talked to me earlier when I was cleaning my station this morning.”

“Yeah. Um,” Lena felt her usual composure faltering at how stupidly she was reacting to standing side by side with Kara. They hadn’t seen each other since the holiday party last weekend at Kara’s house where all of the Bon Appetit co-workers squeezed into a tiny Metropolis one bedroom apartment. This typical Monday morning interaction wouldn’t be so mortifying if she hadn’t drank far too much brandy after completing a successful rendition of fruit loops with a gourmet twist.

And maybe she’d gotten into an unnecessarily heated argument with Winn about the critical difference between a soft-boiled egg at 6 minutes and 30 seconds and 6 minutes and 45 seconds. And then when Kara had gently steered her back into the kitchen and she’d quietly agreed with her assessment that yes six minutes and 45 seconds had a slightly more satisfying jammy consistency it was useless to resist kissing her against the dish washer. 

“Lena?” Kara leaned closer with concern in her bright blue eyes. The closeness made Lena flounder a little and accidentally slap a hand on her still very hot chiffon cake pan.

“Shit!” she yelled and before she could think of how sanitary it was to stick her hand in the meat freezer in under the work station Kara had grabbed her hand and rushed her to the sink. Gently she turned on the faucet and Lena’s hand was instantly better under icy water.

“I thought they taught you in your fancy schmancy culinary school that you shouldn’t touch hot plates.”

Lena flexed her hand under Kara’s slightly larger one, trying to stop how obvious the blush must be on her face and neck.

“Um it’s a baking dish, actually.”

“Hot plate, baking dish. Whatever. You shouldn’t touch hot things without a very thick oven mitt.”

“Well of course. I know that,” Lena muttered as she looked down, Kara’s fingers gently massaging her hand in the icy water.

After a few more seconds Kara let go, turning off the faucet and reaching for a dish towel.

“Let me know if it still hurts afterwards and I can get you some really good burn cream. My sister’s a doctor so.”

Lena gave Kara a stiff nod as she pointedly wiped at her hands, waiting for Kara to walk away. But the other woman’s lugz boots remained stubbornly in view.

“Should we uh talk about last weekend? I thought maybe you wanted some space since you didn’t respond to my ratatouille meme. And it was really funny! So either you were unable to answer your phone or you didn’t want to talk to me.”

“Kara, we have to film in half an hour. Could we maybe not do this right now?”

“Oh yeah, sure. I just wanted to-”

Lena lifted her head and felt her face twist desperately. The feeling in her stomach was similar to when she’d been in culinary school and she’d interned at a Michelin star restaurant. She’d dropped a crème brulee that she’d personally made for the Ambassador of Morocco and she had almost cried. Lena hadn’t been fired but the verbal lashing she’d received in French and broken English expletives had made her wish she had been.

“Um, okay. We don’t have to talk. Right now.”

Lena gave Kara a curt nod before turning on her heel and rushing to the shared computer to pretend to check her emails for the next half hour.

* * *

“Do you guys even know what you’re making today?” Sam asked curiously as the camera crew began setting up in front of Lena’s work station. 

Lena shrugged as she spooned the rest of her salad into her mouth, appreciatively moaning at the perfect combination of tart orange citrus fruit and savory pieces of flaky pecorino cheese.

“Did you make this? God it’s so hard to get a good salad here. Lately everyone’s been making pot roast after pot roast for the test kitchen holiday dinner recipes.”

“Oh yeah, Kara made it earlier. She mentioned that you and Andrea can’t eat much of the samples these days since you’re both vegetarian.”

Lena choked, quickly putting down her plate and fork.

“You okay Lena? I was walking in and you were just staring at a Bed Bath and Beyond promotion email for ten minutes.”

“I’m absolutely fine,” grumbled Lena.

“Really? Because you’ve been super weird all morning.”

Lena opened her mouth for a sharp retort when Kara appeared in her periphery, talking to Andrea who was eating a plate of the salad. She tried not to glare as the other woman said something complimentary about how Kara had whipped up such a delicious lunch so quickly and appreciatively squeezed a flannel covered bicep. Kara gave one of her perfect smiles and Lena turned back to her slightly wilted salad.

“Did… oh my god did something happen between you and Kara at the holiday party?”

“Jesus, Sam! Nothing happened!”

Suddenly the entire test kitchen went deadly quiet. Winn, who had been doing a little drumming session with a pair of knife sharpeners, nearly dropped one of the tools into his mixing bowl.

“Something you want to share, Lena?” James asked with a curious head tilt. He had his hands wrist deep in a sour dough starter he’d been tinkering with all week. 

God, she was a mess and it wasn’t even noon.

“Yeah I was just… so upset about how I was fermenting kimchi with the recipe Sam gave me nothing happened! No probiotics for me.”

The rest of the staff all collectively stared at Lena, maybe wondering if she’d gone crazy like her brother. She always found it highly ironic that she was allowed to even work for Bon Appetit in the World Trade Center considering what her brother had attempted to do to the very building a few years ago.

“I hate when that happens! If you want to try making something with probiotics I have a really easy sauerkraut recipe I can send your way.” Kara gave her a helpful smile and Lena tried to control how suddenly weak her knees felt.

“Thanks, Kara.”

She rewarded her with a sunny smile and Lena pointedly tried to ignore Sam’s very wide grin directed right at her.

“I’m sure she’d let you _sauer_ her _kraut_ anytime, Lena.”

If Lena had a rolling pin in her hands she would happily have hit Sam with it. Instead she settled for intensely finishing her salad before the Gourmet Makes director, Jess, gestured for her to come over.

“Hey Lena, ready for the new challenge today?”

“Jess, why do you try to make me suffer so much? We just finished shooting the fruit loops episode and now you’re making me do this?”

“Listen, Lena, this is a fun episode. I promise.”

“Any episode with me is a fun episode, Lena. Guaranteed.”

Lena looked over her shoulder and saw Kara, hands on her hips like some sort of goofy super hero. 

“C’mon, Jess, tell Lena please! You always say you have a fun time shooting my stuff.”

“When you aren’t getting food into my camera lens.”

“That was just because we were testing out how much pressure can fermentation really cause.”

“Kimchi juice is a really hard stain to remove, Kara,” Jess muttered with a sigh as she handed Lena and Kara each an envelope.

“What is this for?”

“Consider this a winter holiday gift before we all get next week off. This is more of a holiday special than an actual Gourmet Makes or Around the World in 80 Bites segment. You’re taking us around Metropolis for some classic around the world holiday treats.”

Kara let out an excited yell and turned to Lena with such a big smile that she forgot for a moment that the thought of being with Kara for longer than a second made her stomach twist into knots.

“What does that have to do with Gourmet Makes, though?”

“Classic holiday treats? It’s sort of in the spirit of looking at classic foods which is your show and then we’re looking at foods around the world which is Kara’s show. Everyone wins and the viewers can enjoy your palpable on-screen cooking chemistry.” Jess adjusted her glasses proudly for emphasis.

“Did you take that idea from a comment? Or did you come up with it by yourself?”

“Why not both?” muttered Jess as she gestured for Kara and Lena to get behind the work station. They didn’t realize the cameras had already started filming.

“Kara, are you wearing a sweater with a menorah on it?”

“Yeah. We represent all the holidays for the season at Bon Appetit. Does your family celebrate the holidays?”

“We’re Catholic.”

“Ooh so maybe we should give you a little Santa Claus hat? Or a reindeer headband?”

Lena looked in dismay as Kara gestured to Jess who gave her a thumbs up and turned to talk to one of the crew. They were totally going to give her the absolutely worst Christmas themed thing to wear for this shoot.

“I’m Jewish but when I was a kid I’d memorize that song about Rudolph and the reindeer. I used to be able to sing all their names. Do you know what I’m talking about?”

“Did you know that technically Santa’s reindeer are all female? Male reindeer lose their antlers in the winter so that means Santa is being pulled by female reindeer.”

“Well that’s just another reason that women are amazing,” Kara said with a pointed wink into the camera. Lena tried to not smile as she rolled her eyes. Interacting with Kara in front of a camera felt a bit easier than earlier. At least filming she could melt into the easy banter and her on-screen personality of being slightly exasperated yet fond of Kara’s culinary antics. It was when the cameras stopped filming and she’d actually have to deal with the real world and doing normal things like siting next to Kara in the company van or walking together from location to location that would be an actual problem.

“Anyway. Hi, I’m Lena from the Bon Appetit test kitchen.”

“And I’m Kara, also from the Bon Appetit test kitchen.”

“And today we’re doing an um collab. of our two shows.”

“Did someone have to teach you how to say that word?”

Lena simply rolled her eyes in response.

* * *

Kara smiled as she gently carded her hand through Lena’s hair, helping get ginger bread crumbls out of her hair. When they had just finished a tour of the elaborate boutique ginger bread making shop, one of the camera crew had knocked over one of the display houses on their guide’s bathroom break. The three story house had shattered into a crumbly ginger bread mess.

“Yum,” Kara said with a wink as she popped a piece into her mouth. Lena wanted to melt into the floor.

“Oh no, someone got a little too excited with the treats!” Their guide for the ginger bread house making process appeared from her bathroom break, adjusting her glasses with concern. Mrs. Cordelia Blythe wiped her wrinkled hands on her apron, looking like the perfect Mrs. Claus with her ruddy cheeks and pile of pale hair twisted into a high bun on the top of her head. Lena had half a mind to ask if she’d do a jolly ho ho ho just to humor her.

“We’re so sorry this happened. Do you want us to help you clean or make the house again somehow?”

Mrs. Blythe smiled as she took out a wet rag from her apron pocket, wiping some globs of frosting off the steel countertop.

“It’s alright, dears. My wife can help me when she gets back from her meeting today. Hopefully when you go back to your kitchen you can make a ginger bread house for yourselves.”

Lena nodded as she started to awkwardly step around the pile of gingerbread rubble. Suddenly she felt a warm hand on the small of her back, steadying her.

“Wouldn’t want you to pull a Godzilla and smash more of the display,” teased Kara with a soft smile. Lena nervously laughed as she headed straight out, the bells of the store tinkling pleasantly to send them off. She shivered as she zipped up her jacket, pausing next to the store front with Kara not far behind.

“If I have to eat another holiday themed sweet I might explode.”

“You can’t ever get too sick of sweets, Lena. You’re a pastry chef!”

“All good things in moderation. Remember that time you were trying to make those Filipino donuts and you got sick because you ate like twenty?”

Kara crossed her arms over her chest as they waited outside for the rest of the crew to filter out of the small ginger bread store.

“You lent me a hair tie when I threw up in the bathroom for half an hour.”

“That’s what co-workers are for.”

“Yeah. Co-workers.” Kara gave Lena a meaningful look before reaching tentatively for the sleeve of her puffy down jacket.

“Lena, we don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to. We can pretend like you didn’t… um. We can just pretend like it didn’t happen. I really like you and I enjoy spending time with you so that’s more important than dating and kissing and stuff.”

“Wait, Kara, do you want to date me?”

Kara’s face flushed and she looked down at her shoes.

“Oh god, please forget I said anything. I just wanted to let you know that I value your friendship more than trying to interrogate you about what happened at my holiday party.”

“Kara, I-”

“Hey guys, ready for us to drive you back? Three holiday treats are enough for one episode. We might have to make this a three part series or something.”

“Do you think you can edit that in time for release, Jess?”

The other woman just gestured to her very large thermos of coffee in her hand before waving for them to follow her to the white van that swung around the corner.

Lena watched Kara’s back as she walked briskly in front of her and she sighed. She could hear that stupidly sad background music from her videos when she’d terribly butchered making a gourmet treat in her ears as Kara got farther and farther away.

* * *

“I think I’m going to call it a night, Lena,” called Kara, rag in hand as she observed Lena glaring at the dry chiffon cake in her tray.

They were the only two left in the test kitchen on a Monday night after getting back late from a busy afternoon of filming. 

“Oh okay. Have a good evening, Kara.”

The other woman nodded with a smile as she adjusted the collar of her bomber jacket with nervous fingers.

“Bye.”

Lena watched her walk away, down the row of stations for a few steps before she rushed forward.

“Kara!”

“Yeah?”

“I know you’re going back home to spend the holidays with your family next week.”

“Right. I am.”

“But if you wanted to see me when you come back, I’d really like that.”

Kara paused, hands in the pockets of her jacket as she rocked on her heels.

“Really? Maybe we could cook something at my place? I make a mean latke.”

Lena smiled at the eagerness in Kara’s eyes as she nodded.

“I’d really like that. Maybe I’ll bake you that birthday cake recipe you like?”

“With the sprinkles?”

“We might have to steal some from the test kitchen.”

Kara took a tentative step closer and god were Kara’s eyes always this blue? Lena usually didn’t let herself get close enough to look.

“I will give you all the sprinkles at your disposal. You’ll have so much sprinkles you won’t know what to do with them!”

Lena bit her lip to curb her smile but they both knew she was doing a horrible job of appearing to be unamused.

“If you get sick this time I will definitely not be giving you a hair tie.”

Kara leaned a little closer reaching for something that was stuck in the crown of Lena’s head with gentle fingers.

“I wouldn’t dream of it.”

“Well then. It’s a date.”

**Author's Note:**

> I love Bon Appetit and I love Supercorp. Normally I only read for them but this is a sort of gift upon request. Perhaps I'll write more for this universe involving dating Lena and Kara trying to do a collab while pretending like they totally aren't together. Who knows?


End file.
